BC Women's Basketball Coaches

Michele Durand Head Coach

Number two on the Bluffton College all-time wins list, Michele Durand is in her 10th year as head coach of the women's basketball team. Last season she won her 100th game at BC, and she has a nine-year record of 100-126, including a 16-9 season in 1995-96 which stands as the most wins in school history. That year Bluffton won the Association of Mideast Colleges regular season and tournament championship. Last season Durand led her cagers through their first season in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, posting a 5-7 HCAC record and a 12-14 mark overall. With six juniors back for action, she aims to take BC to the top of the league. "I'm hoping to be able to push the ball up the floor," said the BC mentor. "We will emphasize our defense which will hopefully create some offense." Last season Durand's club led the HCAC in free throw shooting and was second in three point shooting. Durand earned a health degree from Bluffton in 1998 and went on to earn a master's degree in physical education from Bowling Green State University in 1990. She has been on the faculty at BC since 1989, and is now an assistant professor of HPER and associate director of athletics. Durand also has coached the women's tennis team and cross country team at BC. She was named coach-of-the-year in the Western Buckeye Collegiate Conference in 1990-91 and in the AMC in 1995-96. In her playing days, Durand was a two-year All-Western Buckeye Collegiate Conference honorable mention selection. She is seventh on BC's career assist list wih 187 and she ranks 19th in career scoring with 609 points (in three years).

Lori Rhode Assistant Coach

Graduate assistant coach Lori Rhode is in her second season with the BC basketball and volleyball programs. She is a 1984 graduate of Purdue University with a degree in physical education and health. She has a graduate-level experience from Purdue in 1984-85 and from the United States Sport Academy from 1995-97. Rhode is working towards her master's degree in sports administration from Bowling Green State University. She has coached at the high school and junior high school levels since 1984 and was the director of a recreational facility in Lafayette, Indiana before coming to Bluffton.

Kary Zimmerman Assistant Coach

In her second year at BC, Kary Zimmerman serves as a graduate assistant coach in basketball and softball. She is a 1998 University of Dayton graduate, where she earned a bachelor's in sports management with minors in journalism and business marketing. She is working towards a master's degree in sports administration from Bowling Green State University. Zimmerman was a standout softball player for Dayton, earning All-Atlantic 10 conference recognintion her senior year. On the basketball court, she led her Council Rock High School, Pa. squad in assists and three point shooting as a senior. She also was named to the GTE District IV Academic All-America and the A-10 All-Academic teams.

Beth Klocke Assistant Coach

First year volunteer assistant Beth Klocke was a four-year varsity perormer for BC and ranks in the top five in 3-point shooting for the Beavers. A 1998 BC graduate, she holds the career mark for 3-point accuracy at Bluffton. A psychology major at BC, she is taking classes toward a master's degree in sports psychology at Bolwing Green State University.